


A Small Delay on the Road to Forgetting

by everythingmurky



Series: Time demi-Lord [9]
Category: Broadchurch, Doctor Who
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Crossover, F/M, Fluff, Gen, Light Angst, Some Humor, Unrequited Love
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-17
Updated: 2017-03-18
Packaged: 2018-10-06 11:54:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,558
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10334099
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/everythingmurky/pseuds/everythingmurky
Summary: The Doctor and Rose leave, intending to do what must be done and forget, but they have a stop or two to make along the way.





	1. Time for an Unexpected Stop

**Author's Note:**

> I started this a bit back, almost right after Future Plans, but it's actually older than that in concept, as it was something I thought would make it into Child of Time. It's a side point, though, so I'm going to keep it separate.
> 
> I had stopped it because I wasn't going to post it until the other story was done, but it's close (worryingly so) and I'm stuck as I can't decide who all is behind the Aeturn in Seek and Find, so I went back to this after a surprising family dinner.
> 
> And there is a character in here introduced in Just a Stupid Dance. It might make more sense to read that first, timey wimey as that is.

* * *

“So,” Rose began, looking around the rolling fields, trying to control her hair. “Where are we, then? I mean, it looks a bit familiar, might even be on Earth—or New Earth, though I don't smell apple grass—but we were supposed to find a safe place to lose our memories, right? And it had to be some place where we wouldn't have any reminders that could trigger us getting 'em back, but I think I almost recognize this place.”

The Doctor walked over to her, hands in his pockets. “It would seem that the TARDIS had other ideas about our destination. Again.”

“Right,” Rose agreed. “So... where are we?”

“Hmm, good question,” the Doctor said. He licked a finger and stuck it in the air. She rolled her eyes, and he smiled at her. “What, are you doubting my tried and true method of determining space and time?”

“Always,” she said, and he frowned at her until she started laughing. For a nine hundred year old alien, he had the perfect pout for a child of three, five at the most. “Come on. Where are we?”

“It's called Scotland, and I've never heard of anyone managing to get so drunk they didn't realize they'd come here,” a voice said, and they turned to see a teenager standing there, her red curls wild with the wind. “How'd you manage that? You're from London, aren't you? I don't see a car, though. How'd you get this far without one?”

“You don't miss a beat, do you?” Rose asked, looking her over. What was it about Scotland that kept causing them to have unscheduled trips there? First Victoria and the werewolf, now this? Though at least this time they weren't over a hundred years in the past and she wasn't “naked” this time.

The girl shrugged. “There's not much to miss around here, now is there?”

“Where exactly is here?” Rose asked, wondering how to broach the subject of possible alien activity. “Oh, sorry. I'm Rose, and this is the Doctor.”

“Ailie,” she answered, “and the simplest answer to that question is nowhere. Or, as my best friend likes to call it, the place that even hell forgot.”

“That so?” the Doctor asked. “And why is that?”

“Nosy neighbors, overgrown bullies, and nothing ever happening,” Ailie said, shrugging. “Seriously, no one comes here. Not even by accident. Most people live their entire lives hoping to get away from this town.”

“Doesn't really sound like our usual sort of place, does it, Doctor?”

“We don't get a lot of doctors around here, either,” Ailie said. “I suppose you need a phone. Best start walking. Nearest one's three quarter mile that way.”

“That where your house is?”

She laughed. “No, and you're fortunate that the Hardys are out of town because not a one of them would have opened the door to you. Only I've got the keys, so you're in luck. And Stuart's a bastard, so I don't mind you making long distance calls on his phone.”

“Excuse me, did you just say—” The Doctor covered Rose's mouth, and she reached back to elbow him. He grunted, leaning down into her ear.

“Don't. She can't know that we know Alec in the future.”

Rose nodded, though she thought they should have found a better way to handle that because Ailie was definitely giving them an odd look. She pulled the Doctor's hand down. “I think someone's still a bit drunk.”

“Oi, speak for yourself. Did you hear that mess of slurred words and nonsense you spouted?”

She shook her head, and Ailie gave them both a frown. “Um, right, then. Let's go. Haven't got all day. Still have to walk back home after this, but I did promise Sir Grumps A Lot that I'd check on the house.”

“Sir Grumps A Lot?”

She reddened to match her hair. “I didn't call him that. Did I? Oh, bollocks. At least he's not here to hear it.”

Rose smiled. She thought she liked this girl. “So if Stuart is Sir Grumps A Lot and a bastard, why would you check up on his house while he's on holiday?”

“Oh, he's not. He's off on business, like always, and he's not—I'm not going to repeat that name. He hates it, and I don't even like it for him because he's not really—I'm going on like a complete nutter in front of two strangers. This is about the time when he'd tell me to stop wittering,” Ailie said. “So I am. I'm going to stop wittering. I'm doing the polite thing and helping you find a telephone so you can get back where you belong, that's all. Never say we weren't hospitable here in our own backend of nowhere.”

Rose tried to fight laughter. “Are you sure you don't want to witter on a bit more? I'm surprised he's let you have a word in. Normally, it's his gob going mile a minute.”

“Hey,” the Doctor protested, frowning at her. Then he shrugged, acknowledging the truth of her words. “I suppose I do tend to go on a bit. Just a tad. It's this brain of mine. So old and full of stuff. Can't keep it all in. It just starts tumbling out, like it was bursting from my head and out into the open.”

“I'd say that was my problem, but I'm not old, and I don't have a lot of stuff in my head. If anyone does, it's himself,” Ailie said, shaking her head, stopping in front of the gate.

“Blimey,” Rose said, wondering why they hadn't come to see this place before, since it looked like the Doctor's son was rich. “It's like a mini-castle.”

“Not quite so grand,” Ailie said, unlocking the gate and opening it. “Legend has it that it was a lookout tower, centuries and centuries ago. And then it became a fort, and then the local laird took it over. He sort of ruled out of it for a bit, 'cept there wasn't anything here to rule, and it's just been decaying ever since.”

Decaying wasn't the word Rose would have used for it. As far as she could tell, it was still pretty grand. She could see a bit of a tower on the one end, and it did look old, weathered and aged, stained by the elements, but it stood tall all the same. The grass wasn't trimmed neat or anything, and ivy was about to take over one side of the building, but it hadn't started crumbling or falling down, not that she could see.

“Looks pretty solid,” the Doctor said. “I'm wondering if perhaps that's a sentiment and not a true statement of its condition. Has this always belonged to... um... what was that name again? Stuart?”

“Aye, goes back generations,” Ailie answered. “There's been a Hardy what owned it since... oh, I don't know, William Wallace.”

“Generations,” the Doctor said, and Rose looked over at him, knowing something was up by his tone. That mattered to him, though she wasn't sure why. Oh, sure, it was almost like there was a Sir Alec in with the Sir Doctor and Dame Rose, almost a dynasty of sorts, but this was some sort of joke, wasn't it? Not like Ailie had ever mentioned Alec by name, just Stuart, and no Sarah Jane, either.

“What are you up to?” Rose asked, but the Doctor just grinned, saying nothing.

* * *

“Phone's just through here,” Ailie said over her shoulder, walking past the front room. The furniture was almost all ancient, making the stuff in their place on the estate look brand new. Ailie didn't pay any attention to it, but Rose soaked in every detail, looking for proof that this was actually the home of the same Stuart Hardy that Alec hated so much.

She stopped, staring at the wall. “Doctor, did that stuffed head—I swear its eyes moved.”

He nodded. “They did.”

“What? Are we about to be attacked by vengeful spirits of animals hunted long ago?” Rose hissed, and he frowned at her. She sighed, not really sure where the vengeful spirits came from, but those animals had been shot long enough ago for them to have actually faded in the sunlight, so they were old. Maybe ancient.

The Doctor laughed. “It's a camera, not an animated head. Someone clever hid it there not too long ago. Fortunately, I spotted it as we walked in and took care of it.”

Rose frowned. “Why do you sound so happy about that?”

He shrugged, walking over into the other room where Ailie had gone. She stopped short, having just turned back to find them missing. “Sorry. Rose doesn't much care for hunters. Neither do I, come to think of it. One too many turns being the most dangerous game, I suppose. Title's a bit flattering, but the constant threat to my life gets old after a few centuries.”

Ailie frowned. “I—Never mind. Suppose you're still drunk. Let's see here. Phone. Probably not wise to use the one in his lordship's study, or even her ladyship's office, but the kitchen. That's safe enough. And I could use a bit of tea. Still don't know what to think of you two.”

Rose reached over and hit him, but the Doctor ignored it. “Tea sounds lovely. Just what this day needs, a way to refresh the synapses.”

Ailie gave him a smile, opening a heavy wooden door to the kitchen. “I'll get the water. Just give me a tick and—”

The phone's shrill ring interrupted her, and she rushed over to answer it. Putting the receiver to her ear, she looked nervous as she said, “Hardy residence. What? Oh, you bloody wanker. You scared me.”

The Doctor nudged Rose, and she sighed, rolling her eyes as she went to the sink, starting to fill the water as she listened to Ailie's half of the conversation.

“Don't be an arse,” she grumbled. “It didn't _look_ like a mouse. And I still say you're lying about me screaming.”

The Doctor grinned at Rose, and she fought laughter, too, as the conversation went on.

“I don't know. You just are, because I didn't scream,” she insisted. “Seriously, Alec, what made you call just now? How'd you even know I'd be here? You're lucky you're not with your da. He'd go mental about you using the phone like that.”

Rose put the kettle on the burner and lit it, standing back to wait.

Ailie giggled at something the other person said. “Are you sure you have to stay the whole time? I miss you. I mean—you're bored, and you may as well be here if you're going to be bored. Like you know what that is.”

Rose felt for her a bit with that obvious slip there, and the Doctor seemed to frown. Ailie winced when she saw both of them.

“I should let you go. I know this is getting expensive, plus I sort of told these stranded motorists they could use your phone to ring for help. I figured you wouldn't mind because it would make your da mad. I won't let them stay long, promise, and I'll be with them the entire time. Now stop fussing. You're worse than Bonnylee Drews.”

“Bonnylee Drews?” the Doctor asked, but all Rose could do was shrug.

“Oh, you,” Ailie said, smiling as she teased her caller. “You know people aren't that bad. I often do. Right. I'm off. Try and have a good time. I know that's impossible for you, but you never know. You might slip and fall into the pool and discover you have a personality after all.”

Rose bit her lip, turning into the Doctor's shoulder to hide her laughter, not that it wasn't kind of obvious that they'd heard everything Ailie said.

“Yeah, but you know you love me, Alec,” Ailie finished. She gave the phone a glum look and muttered under her breath. “Love you, too. Wanker.”

The Doctor coughed. Ailie turned back to them, eyes wide. “Um... Oops. I never got the water—oh, you did. Um... I know. There's a study. Stuart's study. You can make your call in there. Private-like. That's good, right? Yeah. So... which one of you wants to make the call?”

The Doctor pointed at Rose, and she frowned back at him, but he nodded, and she reluctantly followed Ailie over into the other room.

* * *

“Master Alec,” K-9 said, making Hardy turn to glare at the dog. “Security measures in the house have been disabled.”

“What?” Hardy set down his book and crossed over to the dog, not for the first time cursing this stupid holiday he'd been dragged on. He didn't want to be at home, either, not really, but at least there he wouldn't have to pretend to get along with anyone while his mother talked about her books. She'd thought it would be good for him, getting away, but he'd have been fine at home, especially since his father was gone now, too.

He had asked Ailie to make sure the house was fine, mostly because that was what people did, and she'd done it to him, asking him to watch her house when she and her dad went off that one weekend. That was different, though. She had a cat and all that wanted fed, little mongrel thing, though she had offered to feed his dog while he was gone. Hardy had laughed at that until his mother reminded him he was rude and informed Ailie that they were bringing the dog with them. At least then Hardy wouldn't be bored.

He'd read every book he brought with him already, and he wasn't about to join those idiots down by the pool. He'd had enough humiliation for one summer.

“How serious is the breach? Is it alien again?”

“Negative. Sensors register three occupants. All humanoid.”

Hardy frowned. That wasn't the same thing as human, and it wasn't Ailie, though knowing her—he reached for the hotel phone and rang the house, not entirely surprised to hear it pick up on the first ring. “Hardy residence.”

“What the bloody hell are you doing in my house?” 

“What?” Ailie asked, and then she must have realized it was him. “Oh, you bloody wanker. You scared me.”

“That was scary? What happened to Ailie McKinney, brave daughter of a copper who doesn't fear anything, not even a mouse?” 

“Don't be an arse,” she grumbled. “It didn't _look_ like a mouse. And I still say you're lying about me screaming.”

That always made him frown. “Why would I do that?”

“I don't know. You just are, because I didn't scream,” she insisted. “Seriously, Alec, what made you call just now? How'd you even know I'd be here?”

He couldn't tell her about the security measures running through the house or why he'd put them in, and definitely not that his dog could receive transmissions from the system even here. “Didn't. Just bored in this stupid hotel room.”

“You're lucky you're not with your da. He'd go mental about you using the phone like that.”

“So? Since when do I care what he thinks? He's the arse.”

She giggled on the other end. “Are you sure you have to stay the whole time? I miss you. I mean—you're bored, and you may as well be here if you're going to be bored.”

“I said as much to her. She said it would be better tomorrow. She doesn't have to do anything for the books and we're supposed to have fun.”

“Like you know what that is.”

“Ailie—”

“I should let you go. I know this is getting expensive, plus I sort of told these stranded motorists they could use your phone to ring for help.”

“You did what?”

“I figured you wouldn't mind because it would make your da mad.”

“Aye,” Hardy agreed, always up for something that would anger his father, but he didn't like the idea of strangers in the house with Ailie, and he wanted them gone. Now. “Only you shouldn't be—”

“I won't let them stay long, promise, and I'll be with them the entire time. Now stop fussing. You're worse than Bonnylee Drews.”

“I bloody well am not,” Hardy muttered, giving K-9 another glance. “Just... be careful. We never get strangers there. They could be anyone, and you lot are far too trusting.”

“Oh, you. You know people aren't that bad.”

“Could have fooled me.”

“I often do,” she said. “Right. I'm off. Try and have a good time. I know that's impossible for you, but you never know. You might slip and fall into the pool and discover you have a personality after all.”

“Twat.”

“Yeah, but you know you love me, Alec.”

“I do not,” he grumbled, hanging up on her. He turned back to K-9. “Keep an eye on those sensors. Let me know when they leave.”

* * *

“He's not here, you know.”

The Doctor frowned, not sure why those words merited a whisper. Ailie had told Rose she was free to use the phone in the study, and Rose had gone dutifully, if grudgingly, to keep up the charade a bit longer. It was still possible that aliens could be here, seeing as how it was, apparently, where his son had grown up, and Alec seemed almost as jeopardy friendly as Rose.

“He?”

“Alec,” Ailie said, swallowing as she met the Doctor's eyes. Her resolve almost wavered, but she pushed on. “He's... you're his father, aren't you? His real father?”

“What?” The Doctor stared at her. She couldn't know that. Alec had mentioned some suspicions that Stuart Hardy wasn't his biological father, but he'd never mentioned it being public knowledge, and he still carried the other man's name, preferring it to the one Sarah Jane had given him.

“I... I suppose I could be wrong, jumping to conclusions like I know anything just because I'm a copper's daughter, but your eyes...” Ailie paused, almost as if picturing something. “They're so like his. Yours are older, but I know his so well that as soon as I saw yours... and he's about as tall as you now, just as thin, like a rail, and I bet I could get his hair to do that what yours is doing.”

The Doctor shook his head. “Doubt it. I've got great hair. Special hair. It's sort of—”

“I can understand you giving him up because you barely look old enough to have a son his age,” Ailie said, “but... he hates Stuart, and they fight all the time. I'm always afraid one of these days Stuart's going to hit him if he gets drunk and pushed enough, and he hardly ever smiles. He's so bloody miserable all the time. It's not right. You're older now, you could—but I suppose you wouldn't be here if you hadn't gotten pissed and lost your head for long enough to get to Scotland.”

The Doctor shook his head. How could he explain that he had to stay away from his son, even now, for his safety? He couldn't. He didn't dare mention timelines or how very timey wimey the situation, and what was worse was seeing her timeline and the very fixed point she was headed toward.

“He is your son, isn't he?”

“No.”

“Liar.” Ailie sighed. “Look, I know you won't, but... just promise that you'll tell him someday. He deserves to know. He thinks he's got no one, not even me or his mother, but I think he'd like you.”

“Me?” the Doctor asked, though he knew full well he did get along with his son, despite their different personalities. Bit like working with one of his former selves, but much easier. “What would make you think that? I'm a chatterbox who can't stop his mouth—”

“Aye, and so am I, and I happen to be his best mate—”

“And I can't tell him why I abandoned him or why I can't take him now. And don't go blaming Rose. She's nothing to do with the why, not then or now. She... she would give anything for me to be able to be with my family. She has,” the Doctor said, thinking of what he owed Rose—Bad Wolf—in saving his life and helping his son.

“I have a sense about people,” Ailie said. “Copper's daughter and all that. He doesn't get on with anyone, but I knew. I knew he was worth knowing. He's special. He's... he's got a bigger heart than he lets anyone see, and he's smart, too.”

“I know.”

Ailie frowned again, twisting up her lip. “Does she tell you about him? Give you updates and all that? I know that Agnes did that when she got knocked up, wrote the baby's father about everything. He never wrote back, but it never stopped her.”

“I've seen his brilliance for myself, and I'm still amazed by it,” the Doctor told her honestly. “It's not as simple as it seems, and there are very good reasons why he can't ever know who I am or where he came from.”

Her eyes widened. “Are you some sort of criminal? No, you're a spy, aren't you?”

“Something a bit like that,” the Doctor told her. He put a hand on her shoulder. “Listen to me. I can tell you care a great deal about Alec, but you can't tell him I was here. It's too dangerous. Please. He can't know yet.”

“Will you promise me you'll tell him?”

The Doctor nodded. That wasn't hard to do, since he already knew that his son knew. “I will.”

“Good.” Ailie looked around him. “You all set to get back, then?”

“Yup,” Rose said. “Shouldn't be too long at all.”

“Well, then,” the Doctor said. “Best get back to the road. Thanks for your hospitality, Ailie. I'm glad to have met you.”

* * *

“Did I push you to leave too soon?” Rose asked as they walked back toward the TARDIS. “I mean, we didn't even get tea, and normally you'd have pushed to stay for that.”

“I wanted to,” the Doctor admitted, “but I didn't think I dared risk it.”

“Not even for a chance to know what your son was like before you knew him? It's not like there's a paradox involved. He won't see you. He's not here.”

“There's still a risk,” the Doctor said, well aware that his words might not be enough. Ailie could still tell Alec they were here, and the timelines could unravel. There was a risk to doing this now, since time was still in flux and could change. He should have gone ahead and forced both him and Rose to forget before now, but he'd wanted to do it where they wouldn't question the loss.

“Because Ailie recognized you as his father,” Rose said. “Wow. I almost wish we'd seen him. He must have been something.”

“I'm sure he was.”

“And I liked her. She's funny and cute. A bit like Ellie and a bit like Daisy. Maybe we can come back again—not us, but the us that _can_ remember Alec—and tell her it's okay and he knows. We could do that, couldn't we?”

“We'd have a few days.”

“What?”

The Doctor stopped, looking back at the house. “It's a few days from the school dance. She got him to agree to go when he was distracted by unpacking. She dies that night.”

“No,” Rose said, pulling on his arm. “Isn't there something we can—”

“Not for her, no. That's a fixed point. However... I think there is something else that can be done. It doesn't make it right, but it's why the TARDIS sent us here. Come on.”


	2. Time for a Gift

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Doctor has something to share with his son and granddaughter.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I shouldn't do this before finishing the epilogue, but apparently I'm just determined to write this whole saga out of order and be as timey-wimey as it can get.
> 
> Still, I kind of had this idea in mind all along, though Ailie wasn't a part of it at first. She was just suppose to be a bit part, but I kind of liked her and her quirks after writing Just a Stupid Dance. Which was awkward, because her fixed point was set before I wrote it.
> 
> And I can't deny that partial influence came from the Decoy Bride movie and now I've lost the picture link I was going to use for what I kind of had in mind for the ancestral Hardy place, but that's where the idea started.

* * *

“You do realize you _just left.”_

The Doctor smiled, throwing his arms around his son and hugging him even as Alec grunted and pushed him back. He didn't care. It was good to see him again, even if they hadn't been gone that long. “I know, but I realized—with the help of a couple of special friends—that I needed to do one more thing before I did the forgetting.”

Alec took a step back, frowning. “Wait. Oh, bloody hell. You're confusing me now. It wasn't—the you that just left is the one that remembers me. How are you back without—no. I don't want to know. My head hurts, and I would rather be drinking if I have to deal with this again.”

That made the Doctor pause. He didn't like the sound of that. “Tell me. And don't say you can't. You know I'm due to forget all of this.”

Alec shook his head. “That's not why I don't feel like discussing it.”

“Well, fine, but that does ruin everything. Here I was, practically bouncing with excitement—”

“Is there a time when you don't?” Alec asked. Then he added, “In this regeneration, at least. Some of your others are... less excitable and more irritating, if that's even possible.”

“You've met more of me? That's exciting, too,” the Doctor said, turning to Rose. “I almost wish I could take you to meet them all. Still... that's not why we came. We're here on an important mission. No, don't look like that. It's not a world ending crisis. It's a good thing. I promise. I just need you to answer a question for me first.”

Alec sighed. “If you insist, but next time you go giving me a sonic screwdriver, make it a little less obvious. Miller's son keeps trying to nick the damned thing. Had to build a cabinet with a perception filter just so I could have somewhere safe to put it, and now Miller wants one for her stuff she doesn't want her son or her sister in, and that bloody nephew of hers...”

“What about him?” Rose asked, going over to Alec's side. “And do you mind if we get some chips to continue this conversation?”

“Yes, I do.”

“Still mad at your mother, I see,” the Doctor said, and Rose started, making Alec laugh. He shook his head, and the Doctor grinned, pleased to have found a strange but useful way past the walls his son was trying to put up around himself. “I think when you see what Rose and I have for you, you'll be pleased. Where's Daisy? I can't sense her, and I don't know if that's—”

“Sandbrook.”

“Oh, that's unfortunate. Still, we can pick her up on the way.”

“I am not going to pick out a new recorder with you. I told you that already.”

The Doctor stared at him, not sure how to react to that. “I... what?”

“And you can't dance.”

Rose burst out laughing, and the Doctor shook his head, deciding that his son was just saying all of this to annoy him. He had no memory of meeting Alec in his second self, and he refused to have his ability to dance insulted—by him or by Rose.

“I thought I heard a racket that meant that ship of yours was here,” Ellie said, coming up to them, Fred in her arms. She gave Alec a look. “What's with you? Why aren't you inviting them inside? I'm sure Beth'll make room for two more. Nige cooked enough for twenty again.”

“Actually, we came here to borrow him,” Rose told her. “We can't stay, but there's something we need to give him. Last thing on the Doctor's bucket list of things to do before forgetting.”

“Oh,” Ellie said. “You haven't done that? I thought—oh, god, that's confusing.”

“Sorry,” Rose told her. “We wouldn't be here if it wasn't so important.”

“What is so bloody important you risked the timelines again by delaying forgetting?” Alec demanded. “And why am I involved? Again?”

“At least you didn't get bit this time,” Ellie told him, and he glared at her. She shrugged. “Not my fault that happened. Don't take it out on me.”

“Don't ask,” Alec told them. “If we're going, let's just go. Wait. No. Is Harkness involved? Because if he is, the answer is no.”

“This is not about Jack,” the Doctor assured him. “I have something to give you—I suppose it's for more than you, but we'll see how that goes. We are getting Daisy. I'm not doing this without her. And she's so adorable with the bedtime stories.”

“She is. I recorded it if you want to see,” Rose offered.

Alec frowned. “She didn't mention Rose.”

“Perception filter.”

“Right.”

The Doctor smiled. “How about we go ahead, then? _Allons-y, Alec.”_

“Wanker.”

* * *

“Seriously?” Daisy asked, turning back to face the Doctor. “All the places in the universe we could go, all of time and space, and you take us to Scotland?”

Ellie thought she saw Hardy smiling, which was weird, considering his mood earlier, but then it was a little funny. Did his daughter hate his homeland? How did she feel about his accent, then? Ellie had never thought to ask, though Daisy obviously hadn't adopted it herself.

“Something wrong with Scotland?”

“No, but I've been here before. Several times, in fact, and this place is... kind of boring.”

Rose smiled. “Yeah, we heard it's the place even hell forgot.”

Hardy whirled to face her. “Who told you that? No. You didn't—”

“We met Ailie. She was housesitting for you at the time,” the Doctor said, giving his son a look of pity. “She was nice. I liked her. Funny, couldn't stop talking, insulted you one minute and fussed over you the next.”

“I think I have to have words with the dog,” Hardy muttered, sounding annoyed again, but that wasn't unusual for him. “Well, why are we here, then? You better have had a reason to drag us out here.”

“Yeah," Ellie agreed. "I don't fancy getting shot by whoever owns that castle over there.”

“It's not a bloody castle,” Hardy snapped. His eyes were on the Doctor, and Ellie found herself staring at him—again. She'd left the boys with the Latimers in case this trip went wrong like the last few had, but maybe she shouldn't have.

“Don't tell me _you_ own that thing.”

“It has to pass to someone in the Hardy line,” Daisy said. “I gather there's a big stink with the inheritance laws that the estate's wrapped up in since Dad got himself me and not a son, but yeah, it's his. Why?”

Ellie looked back at it. “That is a bloody castle.”

“No, though I understand it was a fort,” the Doctor said, smiling. She glared at him. He was such a knob, just like his son. That was not just a house. Or a fort. “Come on. This way. We've got something back here to show you.”

Ellie trailed after them, making a note to herself to bug Hardy about this Ailie, since she kept being mentioned without explanation from anyone. Ellie knew enough to know it was bad. That was all. She should have pushed a long time ago, but something always kept coming up to derail that conversation, usually one of their kids, actually. Hardy wouldn't even discuss it in front of Daisy, always finding some way of leading her off from it, too.

“Here we are.”

Daisy frowned. “I don't see anything. It's just like always is back here.”

Hardy, though, tensed and shook his head. “Impossible. You didn't. Tell me you didn't.”

Rose and the Doctor exchanged looks. “You don't like it? I thought you'd be pleased.”

Ellie shook her head. Time travelers. Inconsiderate, the lot of them. “Can someone please explain to me exactly what we're supposed to be seeing?”

* * *

_“Wait a minute,” Rose said after stepping out of the TARDIS. “Weren't we just here?”_

_“Yes,” the Doctor said, and then he grinned. “And no. We were actually there about... oh, three hundred years back from when we were here before.”_

_Rose frowned. “Why are we back again? Not only did we not see Alec in all his charming but grumpy teenage glory, but there's no Ailie here, either, and I thought you said we were going to do something to set against that.”_

_The Doctor grimaced. “Rose, I told you. It's a fixed point. I already had this argument and lost, and not just with myself. Sarah Jane and I discussed it, too. She called it a fixed point without being able to see the timelines, and she's right. So were you, if you recall. You said you saw it as Bad Wolf. It's a fixed point. Ailie McKinney dies that night. Fixed doesn't make it right—Pompeii is proof of that—but it does make it something I won't—can't—change. I... never really discuss what happened when I was in my sixth form—in part because I still cringe when I think of that coat and wish I'd changed it up earlier—but I met what I believe was future version of myself.”_

_“I thought you did that all the time.”_

_“Not all the time. There are loops and paradoxes involved, and technically it shouldn't be possible anymore due to the war and the time lock, but then I made the lock, so I guess reality bends a bit around me. Either way... this alternate future me... He was pretty much evil.”_

_She stared at him. “I know what you did in the war, but that's not you—”_

_“I think, even with the war, I sometimes forget that I could become him,” the Doctor admitted. “The older you, she said she acted to keep me from the darkness in me. The Valeyard was a part of that. Is, I suppose. I don't dare risk a fixed point. That's like the first step down that path. Even for my son, I can't do that. Alec's timelines weren't fixed when I lost him in time, and I could possibly have saved myself from my own path by insisting on forgetting him. I don't know. Everything I heard sounds like I fully intended never to see him again.”_

_“Only you will, and that's a good thing, isn't it?”_

_“Yes,” the Doctor agreed. “And I've got a beautiful moment to share with Daisy, too, but... back to why we're here. Alec disliked his stepfather so much he never discussed him. At all. So while I did get a good look in his head even though it was short, the significance of this place didn't sink in.”_

_Rose looked around, rubbing her hands over her arms. “Should have brought a coat. What's so important about this place?”_

_“It's been in the Hardy family for generations,” the Doctor said. “Passing from father to son, mostly, which since Stuart married Sarah Jane and she never had any other children, meant it went to Alec when he died. And Ailie so charmingly called it the backend of nowhere. It stays almost completely untouched over these centuries, which makes it near perfect.”_

_“Perfect for what?”_

_The Doctor reached into his pocket, taking out the small bit of his ship she'd generously donated to him. “It's not quite time yet, have to adjust the soil some before we can do it, but I think right here is a perfect spot for it, seeing as this tree is still standing in this exact spot in the future.”_

_“Is that... a part of the TARDIS?”_

_The Doctor nodded. “It is. She's willing to let me try growing one here.”_

_Rose looked at him. “You're... you're growing a TARDIS for your son?”_

_“Yup.”_

_“Wow. I think you just won best dad ever.”_

* * *

“You built Dad a TARDIS?” 

“Grew,” the Doctor corrected. “They're sentient creatures, and I couldn't have done it if the TARDIS wasn't willing to let you have a piece of her, but she wanted this, too, much as she likes you and would have you join us full time.”

Hardy stared at him. A conversation with Miller now came back to haunt him, and he knew even without looking at Daisy what she'd want. She wasn't going to say no to this thing. Not one bit. He would have to accept this, as much as he'd been trying to hold onto what was left of his life after Sandbrook and the Latimer case with its failed trial.

“Now my TARDIS, she likes being a police box, but obviously this one... well, she hasn't settled on anything yet.”

“That's perfect,” Daisy said. “'Cause the house Dad rented before he left Broadchurch was kind of cramped for two of us, and he kept saying he wasn't renting somewhere else until he figured out where he was working even though Rose—sorry, other Rose—said she'd give him money from Vitex for whatever we needed.”

“It's hard to believe you need money,” Miller said. “You have a bloody castle.”

“Enough with the castle, Miller. It's not a castle. Felt like a prison most of the time, but it's not even that. It's just a house. And there isn't money involved. It was falling apart, and he was a miser, never wanting to spend anything. If she hadn't had her own money, it would have fallen down on our heads.”

“Dad, can we try it? Please? Gramps can rescue us if anything goes wrong, right?”

The Doctor pulled on his ear. “Well, I don't... It's just... it could be difficult, though the TARDIS assures me her daughter is flight ready. We've been checking up and helping get her to that point. Today's the day, Alec. I'm handing you the keys, so to speak.”

“I think I hate you.”

“Yes, you've said that before.”

Miller smacked him. “The man just gave you a ship that allows you to go anywhere you want, and you hate him? Ungrateful wanker.”

He turned to her. “I seem to remember something about you actually agreeing to—”

“No.”

“Oh, you did, Miller. You said you'd willingly commit to being my companion—”

“Stop that. You're making it sound dirty, you knob,” she said. “And stop laughing. It's not funny. It was hypothetical, and I did not agree to the term.”

“Yes, you did.”

“Dad,” Daisy said. “As fun as it is watching you and Ellie bicker, can we please see inside your TARDIS?”

“Don't get any ideas about driving it,” he muttered, and she laughed, tugging him by the hand until they were inside the ship.

“Bloody hell. That is still weird,” Miller said, coming in behind them. “It's... I thought I was stepping into... It seems less big on the inside than his does, but his is a box... Just when I thought you couldn't get any weirder, Hardy, you do.”

He glared at her, looking around the ship and frowning. The stark white bothered him, reminding him too much of hospitals, but as soon as he had the thought, the room shifted around them, changing to something more familiar, almost like one of his old precincts.

“She's bonding with you already,” the Doctor said. “Good sign. Then again, I imagine you spent a lot of time near her as a child, since her chameleon circuit would have extended concealment to you, making you impossible to find.”

Hardy nodded. It had always been a good place to get away from their bickering.

“So,” Daisy began, grinning in a way Hardy knew was dangerous. “Where are we going first?”


End file.
